Muting device for stringed musical instruments



May 26, 1964 v.1. D. WEBSTER MUTING DEVICE FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 14, 1962 INVENTOR. 01455 0. WEBSTER "IIIIIHHI ATTORNEV y 26, 1964 J. D. WEBSTER 3,134,288

MUTING DEVICE FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 14, 1962 ,IZ O

1N VEN TOR. J IMES D. M EBSU-W i-M wn 14 7' ORA/5Y6 Y 3 134,233 MUTING DEVICE Fon STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS James D. Webster, Northport, N .Y., assignor to The Fred.

Gretsch Mtg. (30., Brooklyn, N New York Filed Feb. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 173,177

6 Claims. 3 84-311) .Y., a corporation of However, this method of muting or mufliing is not satisfactory because it ties up the hand, so that the player does not have the freedom to play as he would like.

While inthe past various forms of muting devices have been proposed, such devices have not been accepted by musicians for one or more reasons.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved muting device for instruments of the type indicated herein, which device overcomes the difiiculties of and objections to prior devices and is acceptable to musicians and the manufacturers of the musical instruments. 7

Another object is to provide such a device which can e arranged to mute certain strings independently or all of the strings simultaneously. 1

Another object is to provide such a device which is mounted on the instrument in a manner so as not to interfere with the playing of the instrument but yet be readily available for operation or adjustment thereof. Another object is to provide such a device which can be readily installed on instruments while being manufactured as well as instruments already in use.

Another object is to provide such a device which is arranged to eliminate vibrational or other effects tending todetract from the music produced by the instrument and which will not get out of order.

Another object is to provide such a device which can produce various degrees of muting effects,

Another object is to provide an instrument sound box adapted for mounting such a device within the interior thereof.

Another object is to provide such a device which can be supplied apart from the instrument and can be readily assembled by the musician.

A further object is to accomplish the foregoing in a 1 simple, practical and economical manner.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will'be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in'the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description-and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the sound box of a guitar illustrating a device in accordance with the present invention applied thereto.

FIG. 2 is a stepped sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 on FIG. 2 illustrating the device in further detail.

i United States Patent it and each located near a side of the group of strings damper 24 away from the strings.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating two devices in accordance with the present invention applied to the guitar.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the sound box of the guitar on a reduced scale with a portion broken away to illustrate a detail thereof.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and, more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 thereof, there is shown a portion of a guitar by way of example which generally comprises a sound box it) having a top 11-and a bottom 12, a bridge ld mounted on the top, a group of strings or string arrangement 15 including six strings tuned E, A, D, G, B and E, and a muting device 16 for thestrings about to be described in detail.

In order to facilitate accommodation of the muting I devicelfi by the sound box 10, the top of the sound box and with an aperture 18 in back of the bridge and outwardly adjacent one side of the group of strings. The sound box is further provided with lengthwise extending bracing means, such as a pair of spaced apart ribs or strips 19. and 20 secured, as by glue, to the underside of the top with the rib 19 passing between the apertures 17 and 18.

The muting device generally comprises a lever 21 pivotally mounted within the sound box and having means at one end, such as an extension 22, projecting outwardly of the top of the sound box through the aperture 17 or through a felt bushing 23 seated in the aperture 17, a damper or muting head 24 mounted on the extension 22 and arranged for engaging the undeside of the strings to mute the same, and manually operable means 25 at the exterior and top '11 of the sound box including an element 26' extending through the aperture 18 and being located at the other end of the lever 21 for effecting pivotal movement of the lever.

In a preferred form of the muting device 16, as shown, the lever has an arm 27 (see FIG. 3) provided with the extension 22, an arm 28 engaged by the element 26 (FIG. 4), and an intermediate transverse section 29 connecting the arms 27 and 23 to offset the same. Means. such as a saddle plate 33 secured to the rib 19 pivotally mounts the lever section 29 on the rib 19. A leaf spring 31 is secured to the rib 19 and is arranged for engaging the lever arm 28 to normally urge the lever in a direction to move the The manually operable means 25 preferably comprise a member 32 secured in the aperture 18 and provided with a threaded bore 34, the element as having screw threads 35 cooperating with the threaded bore 34, and a knob 36 at the outer end of the element 26 for rotating the same to cause the cooperating threads to effect inward and outward movement thereof to position thelever 21. In order to minimize vibration the lever arm 28 has a cushion 37 at the free end thereof, which is engaged by the inner end of the element 26. Also, the spring 31 is relatively stiff so that it will not be vibrated by the vibrations of the strings when producing tones. The string engaging portion of the damper 24 may be formed of any suitable material but preferably is formed of felt, whereby both ends of the lever are cushioned. I The foregoing described arrangement can be manipulated to preset the damper 24 to produce the desired muting effect on the strings. Neither the damper 24 nor the knob 36 interferes with the normal playing of the instru ment.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, the muting device 16, as shown, is constructed and arranged for simultaneously muting the six strings 15.

In FIG. 5, two muting devices 16' are shown, one having a darnper 24 for muting the bass strings E, A, D and another having a damper 24" for muting the treble or more treble-like strings G, B, E, whereby the two sets of three strings can be muted independently at different degrees to enable either the bass or treble strings to dominate at various levels. Oneof the devices 16 is associated with the rib 19, as already described, and the other of the devices 16 is associated with the rib 20 at the opposite side of the group of strings. Additional apertures 17 and '18 are provided in the top of the sound box with both sets of apertures 17, 18 in symmetrical arrangement.

In order to facilitate installation and assembly of the muting device 16, the bottom 12 of the sound box is formed with an opening 40, below the group of strings 15 in back of the bridge 14 (FIGS. 2 and 6) and between the ribs 19 and 20. This opening enables the hand of a person to extend therethrough and reach the underside surface of the top of the sound box. A closure 41 adapted to be removably secured to the bottom of the sound box is provided for the opening 40. Preferably, the bottom 12 of the sound box is at least partially covered by a yieldable pad 42 to cover up the closure 41 and prevent the closure from damaging the players clothes or making the player uncomfortable. The pad also tends to prevent the closure from vibrating. As shown, the pad 42 is removably secured to the sound box by a plurality of snap-on buttons 43 of any conventional type.

The musical instrument just described can be newly fabricated with the opening 40, the closure 41 and the .pad 42 and the complete muting device 16 installed on instruments already in use or can be altered to include these additional features. In order to facilitate the assembly of the muting device 16 at a time after newly fabricated instruments have been in use, in cases where the muting device is not desired by the player when purchasing the instrument but later desires the device, all future fabricated instruments may be provided with the opening 40, the closure 41 and the pad 42, and the apertures 17 and 18 and other appurtenances for installation of the muting device; and the muting device can be sold as a do-it-yourself kit partly assembled to enable the player or the instrument vendor to readily install the same without any particular skill or special tools.

.For the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved muting device for stringed instruments of the types indicated herein which is satisfactory to professional musicians and artists.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matters are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a stringed musical instrument, the combination of a sound box having a top, a bridge mounted on said top, a plurality of strings supported by said bridge, said top having an aperture in front of said bridge and having a threaded bore in back of said bridge, a lever having a transverse intermediate section pivotally mounted within said sound box, means at one end of said lever andextending outwardly of said sound .box through said aperture in front of said bridge, a damper mounted on said means and movable therewith for engaging the underside of at least certain of said strings to mute the same,

manually operable means at the exterior of said sound box including a threaded element in mesh with said threaded bore extending through said threaded bore in back of said bridge for inward and outward movement therethrough and being located at the other end of said lever for effecting pivotal movement of said lever, and a manually operable knob at the outer end of said element for effecting rotation of said element.

2. In a stringed instrument according to claim 1, wherein a spring is mounted Within said sound box and is arranged for engaging said lever to urge said lever in a direction to move said damper away from said strings and to maintain said lever in engagement with the inner end of said element.

3. In a stringed instrument according to claim 2, wherein a cushion is positioned between said lever and the inner end of said element.

. 4. In a stringed musical instrument, the combination of a sound box having a top, a bridge mounted on said top, a string arrangement including a plurality of strings supported by said bridge, said top having a first aperture in front of said bridge and between the sides of said string arrangement and having a second aperture in back of said bridge and outwardly from one side of said string arrangement, a lengthwise extending brace secured to the underside of the top of said sound box and passing between said apertures, a lever including first and second arms and an intermediate transverse section connecting said arms to laterally offset the same, means for pivotally mounting said transverse lever section to said brace, said first lever arm having a section extending upwardly and outwardly of said sound box through said first aperture, a damper mounted at one end of said last mentioned lever section and movable therewith for engaging the underside of at least certain of said strings to mute the same, manually operable means at the exterior of said sound box including an element extending through said second aperture for inward and outward movement therethrough and engaging said second lever arm for effecting pivotal movement of said lever, and a spring mounted on said brace and arranged for engaging said second lever arm to urge said first lever arm in a direction to move said damper away from said strings and to urge said second lever arm in a direction to engage the lower end of said element.

5. In a stringed instrument according to claim 4, wherein a cushion is mounted on said second lever arm for engagement by the lower end of said element.

6. In a stringed instrument according to claim 5, wherein a member formed with a threaded bore is secured in side second aperture, said element has screw threads cooperating with the threads of said-bore to effect the inward and outward movement thereof, and said element has a manually operable knob at the outer end thereof for effecting rotation of said element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- 

1. IN A STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT, THE COMBINATION OF A SOUND BOX HAVING A TOP, A BRIDGE MOUNTED ON SAID TOP, A PLURALITY OF STRINGS SUPPORTED BY SAID BRIDGE, SAID TOP HAVING AN APERTURE IN FRONT OF SAID BRIDGE AND HAVING A THREADED BORE IN BACK OF SAID BRIDGE, A LEVER HAVING A TRANSVERSE INTERMEDIATE SECTION PIVOTALLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID SOUND BOX, MEANS AT ONE END OF SAID LEVER AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF SAID SOUND BOX THROUGH SAID APERTURE IN FRONT OF SAID BRIDGE, A DAMPER MOUNTED ON SAID MEANS AND MOVABLE THEREWITH FOR ENGAGING THE UNDERSIDE OF AT LEAST CERTAIN OF SAID STRINGS TO MUTE THE SAME, MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS AT THE EXTERIOR OF SAID SOUND BOX INCLUDING A THREADED ELEMENT IN MESH WITH SAID THREADED BORE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID THREADED BORE IN BACK OF SAID BRIDGE FOR INWARD AND OUTWARD MOVEMENT THERETHROUGH AND BEING LOCATED AT THE OTHER END OF SAID LEVER FOR EFFECTING PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVER, AND A MANUALLY OPERABLE KNOB AT THE OUTER END OF SAID ELEMENT FOR EFFECTING ROTATION OF SAID ELEMENT. 